Politics

Ezra Klein's an Athletic Supporter

I'm a fan of liberal blogger Ezra Klein, but this may be the worst sports metaphor ever: Since all political commentary is powered by sports analogies, let's take football here. The Clinton team is playing as if this will be decided on points. But in fact, it will be decided by judges, some of them empires, some of them representatives of the crowd, some of them big donors to the stadium. And those judges are terrified of pissing off their loyal fan base. The strategy here should be making the ... (read more)

2008/03/26

Bosnia May Be Hillary Clinton's Biggest Blunder

Taylor Marsh, a vociferous pro-Hillary blogger and radio host, admits that the senator's embellished boast about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia was a huge mistake: Hillary Clinton trying to prove her importance during her husband's presidency overreached massively and got caught in a whopper on Bosnia that includes tape. Now to be fair, the trip wasn't completely safe from danger, but no one cares now. We remember her well received foreign policy speech from last week, which included the words ... (read more)

2008/03/25

Clinton Led Obama Among Black Voters

People who think that Geraldine Ferraro is right, and Barack Obama is the frontrunner in the Democratic race because of his race, have forgotten that Hillary Clinton led among black voters six months ago: Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead over Sen. Barack Obama, her chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, is growing among African-American voters who are registered Democrats, and particularly among black women, a poll said Wednesday. Among black registered Democrats overall, Clinton ... (read more)

2008/03/12

Great Political Blog: Washington Wire

If you're looking for a political blog that isn't just a bunch of bloviating and spin, the Wall Street Journal runs the excellent Washington Wire out of DC. As the news broke yesterday of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer paying for sex during a DC trip, Washington Wire compiled a history of sex scandals in the nation's capitol that goes all the way back to Thomas Jefferson. My favorite: 1976 -- Rep. Wayne L. Hayes, an Ohio Democrat and chairman of the House Administration Committee, resigned after a ... (read more)

2008/03/11

FBI File: Giuseppe Zangara's Attempt to Kill FDR

While doing some fact-checking for Pulp Guns, a set of pulp-novel sourcebooks for the GURPS roleplaying game, I found the FBI file on Giuseppe Zangara's failed attempt to assassinate Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After Roosevelt spoke at a Miami park on Feb. 15, 1933, Zangara fired several shots with a cheap .32-caliber pistol as he was perched on a wobbly bench. He missed the president-elect but hit others, including Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who died from his wounds 19 days later. Zangara, a ... (read more)

2008/03/10

Si Se Puede, Kumar Patel

Andres Useche has released Si Se Puede, a Spanish response to Will.i.am's "Yes We Can" music video for Barack Obama. If you're in the camp that's inspired by Obama's campaign, as I.am, you'll probably like this one too. It's a nice though politically barbed call for Latinos to rally behind Obama in the Texas primary March 4. There's an unexpected guest star at the 3:44 mark. That's the actor Kal Penn, an American of Gujarati Indian descent. This is the first time the star of the Harold & Kumar ... (read more)

2008/02/25

Vicki Iseman Misses Chance to Rebut Story

The top Google result for the name Vicki Iseman is currently her biography page on Alcalde & Fay, the lobbying firm she serves as a partner. The page was erased today but can be viewed on Huffington Post. Alcalde & Fay has issued a statement denouncing the New York Times story suggesting an inappropriate and possibly romantic relationship between Iseman and Sen. John McCain during his 2000 presidential campaign: The allegations and malicious innuendo reported by the New York Times yesterday are ... (read more)

2008/02/21

Lisa Schiffren: Obama's a Secret Commie Baby

Even though it's a product of the conservative National Review, I read The Corner because it's a great format for political blogging -- a bunch of writers of similar politics sharing links and exchanging ideas with each other. I wish there was a liberal counterpart that took the same conversational approach. (There's also nothing better than watching them suffer in real time on election night when the vote doesn't go their way.) Sometimes, all that like-mindedness draws out ugly sentiments a ... (read more)

2008/02/20

States Bank Millions in Unclaimed Child Support

The state of Florida is hanging on to $31 million in unclaimed child support payments, citing an inability to find the recipients: Shireena Adams has gotten $15 in child support over the 11 years she's raised her granddaughter, creating more than a little financial strain. "I'm thinking about giving up my car. Most the time it just sits there because I don't have enough money for gas and insurance is expensive," said the 61-year-old whose severe arthritis has her living in an Indiana apartment ... (read more)

2008/02/05

Small Donations, Loosely Justified

I'm the example in a new BusinessWeek article on small donors in political campaigns, who apparently have less impact than we think: Rogers Cadenhead wants to have an impact on this year's Presidential election. So he's heeded online appeals for contributions, making $25 to $40 donations to candidates including Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.), former Senator John Edwards (D-N.C.), and Representative Ron Paul (R-Tex.). "The allure of one-click participation in democracy was too hard to resist," ... (read more)

2008/01/18

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